His Stimulant
by BrittNicoleFFWriter
Summary: Ryou can't stop thinking about his ditsy strawberry and if looks could kill, Aoyama'd be pushing up daises.


Hey Guys! Here's a new story I wrote for the Ichigo x Ryou pairing from Tokyo Mew Mew. Hope you enjoy it and please review! ^o^~

His Stimulant

The sun was up and shinning brighter than Ryou would have liked. Sighing, he sat up in bed and rubbed his tired eyes. "I really need to get a curtain." It had been a particularly good dream, though the gist of it he couldn't recall. But Ichigo was there, he remembered that part well. She'd suddenly burst into his room and strolled right up to him, her face red with fury. Before she'd even begun her daily rant, he'd leaned down and kissed her. But unfortunately he couldn't remember what had happened after that. "It figures," he thought, "that I wouldn't remember the important part." If he knew how she would react, well that would make it easy.

About a month ago he'd realized that his love for teasing the ditsy strawberry had grown into something else, something much more complicated. When he went a day without seeing her, he'd feel uneasy and panicked inside. When he saw her unhappy he felt like he was being gutted from the inside. When she was happy, his spirits lifted a little too only to fall again when he heard her pleasantness was derived from the love of her life, Masaya Aoyama. "The lucky bastard."

Ryou wasn't one to be jealous. He really didn't care about material things, probably because he could buy whatever he wanted. Up until now he'd never known what it felt like to be in love. He'd spent the years since his parents died simply enduring a life fueled by vengeance. He spent his time studying, experimenting; his only priority was his work. His inexperience with this type of thing only made it worse. The more uncomfortable he felt the meaner and more defensive he was. He knew that sometimes he went too far with her, said something that crossed the line, but she'd always forgiven him. She'd be mad, they'd yell, and then a little bit of his real feelings would sneak out. She often called him a jerk, but that didn't mean she hated him right?

The floor was cold beneath his bare feet and Ryou winced as he headed to the bathroom. Stripping off his pale blue boxer shorts, he stepped into the shower and turned the water on cold. For a moment the shock of the water was unbearable, but he needed it to wake him up from his delusions so he could face the day. So he could face her without doing something stupid, like revealing his feelings. Keichirro had told him time and time again to confess to her, but it wasn't his neck that would be on the line. Besides with the state of things now, she would surely reject him. His heart hurt when he thought about how she probably felt about him. "She probably wouldn't care if I dropped dead."

He turned off the water after thoroughly washing his hair and body, and stepped up to the mirror to examine himself. He wasn't unattractive; he knew that much for sure. Blonde hair plied itself strangely to his forehead and dripped water onto the tile floor. His build was lean and athletic, but not overly so. He wasn't a walking hulk, but then neither was Aoyama. He took a deep breath and watched as his abdomen rose and fell. Swallowing he finished his expectation with a quick summing up of his lower body. He'd seen bigger. Not that he'd looked on purpose, it just happened by chance. He'd seen Keichirro on more than one occasion, but had refused to be intimidated by the older man's endowment. "Ichigo is probably too innocent to have thoughts like these."

Several miles away a certain red headed girl was getting ready for school. "I can't believe I slept in! My homeroom teacher said if I was late again I would get detention!" She scurried around, trying to find the left shoe that matcher her right one. "Honey, you're going to be late!" Called her mother from down the stairs. "I'm coming mom!" Ichigo shrieked, hurrying down the stairs. Walking while trying to tie your shoes and straighten your ribbon is more difficult than you'd think. "Here's your lunch," Ichigo's mom said smiling, "Have a good day dear." "Thanks mom! Bye!" Ichigo clamored out the door, just managing to maker herself look presentable.

She did end up getting to school on time, with a whole thirty seconds to spare. She could feel the teacher's stern stare all throughout class, it made her palms sweat so much she smudged her notes. Ichigo sighed when class finally ended. "Hey Ichigo," called her friend Mami, "you made it on time today." The strawberry smiled and laughed as she recounted her morning. "Wow, you really should get an alarm clock," Mami advised. "But they are so loud; I can't stand to be woken up by loud noises like that. I like it when my mom wakes me up gently." Ichigo sighs. "It doesn't sound like she wakes you up at all," Mami laughed. "Well, she says she does anyway." Ichigo pouts. The two girls head to their next class and the rest of the day goes smoothly, or as smoothly as it can for a baka strawberry.

Ryou spent the day researching potential threats to the Mew Mews, but as with most of his studies these days, he came up short. It was frustrating working off new data, the more he discovered the less he realized he knew. Why were the aliens even attacking this planet? What was their motivation? He knew what Kishu's motivation was- to steal glances at his Ichigo. "There I go again! I have to stop thinking like that! What if I accidentally said it out loud?" He thought, mentally berating himself. "But it would be nice if that were true." _His Ichigo…_

"Ryou, it's time to open up shop." Keichirro shouted from somewhere else in the café. This effectively broke him away from his musings. "Then she should be here soon." He thought, a small smile creeping onto his face. The girls started to turn up one by one, Lettuce first, always punctual, then Zakuro, who was free that day, the Mint, who apologized to Zakuro for not being there earlier, and then there was the quiet lull before Ichigo arrived. No one would admit it, but it wasn't nearly as fun when the ditsy baka wasn't there. She was truly the light of the cafe. Fortunately it was usually slow for the first half hour so her absence wasn't detrimental. He wished she was on time though, his heart always felt a little heavy when she was late. He worried something might have happened to her or that she might be in trouble. He always wanted to be there for her, to save her from any danger.

"Gomen! I'm sorry I'm late!" A panting redhead announced. "Really, Ichigo. Don't come stomping in here like some beast, this is a place of business you know." Mint scolded her friend. "Hey Ichigo!" Lettuce always welcomed her friend with a warm smile which she gladly returned. "She's a true friend, not like someone else I know." Ichigo thought, glaring at Mint. "Your late again," came a husky voice from the kitchen. Shirogane was her loatheful boss who teased her and docked her pay even though she's the only one who works. "I'm docking your pay." He said, smirking at her drop jaw expression. "Why? That's not fair! I'm only a few minutes late and no one's even here!" She exclaimed, anger rising to her face in the form of a pink flush. "Because all the other girls were here on time and obviously there has to be a consequence for you being late." He had stated his case logically and calmly, trying hard not to swoon at the cute face she was making. Ichigo stormed off to get dressed literally fuming. "What does he know, that jerk! He doesn't understand what it's like to actually go to school. Plus it's not like we had any customers and when we do I'm the only one who does anything!" Ichigo growled, throwing her clothes into a corner. She tugged her Café Mew Mew dress over her head and then on the apron. "At least the uniform is cute," she thought.

Ryou returned to his usual spot, a wall by the kitchen, where he propped himself up by his foot and waited for her to return. He was surprised that she didn't put up as much of a fight as usual. He remembered one instance in which she'd actually thrown a cake at him. She'd missed of course, but he'd still made her pay for it. He couldn't explain why he loved teasing her, why he loved making her mad. Was it just to see the cute faces she made? Or did he do it so that maybe even though they weren't loving thoughts, he would be on her mind? He ran a hand through his hair, disheveling the blond mop. "Why do things have to be so hard?" He thought.

He heard a door slam and then watched as the redhead came got to work. Her hair was in two small ponytails, her eyes were bright with life, and she was as dazzling as always. His heart started to pump rapidly as he watched her welcome the first customers into the café. _Her smile…_ made his heart race like no caffeine ever could. She was his stimulant, his buzz. He was overcome by the desire to kiss her, to take her in his arms and kiss her like in the movies. "Maybe with tongue…" He thought, his mouth salivating ever so slightly. His eyes widened when he realized what he was thinking. "I'm turning into a pervert." He thought miserably. He couldn't deny it. His fingers itched to stroke her side as he appeased her hungry mouth, he wanted to touch her like no other man ever had, to kiss her senseless. To be _her_ stimulant. He wanted to be _her_ buzz.

"Oh Masaya!" Ichigo gasped, blushing a bright pink. "Practice ended early today so I thought I'd come by and see you." He said, smiling in his good natured way. "I can't believe he came to see me!" Ichigo thought, filled with nervous giggles. "Wanna do something after your shift is over?" He asked, taking her hand in his. "Y-yes! I would love took, Masaya!" Ichigo practically squealed with excitement. He was leaning down to kiss her hand when a familiar Blondie approached the two. "This is a café not a host club, Ichigo." He said, his face stony and emotionless. "Oh, I'm sorry, it was my fault." Masaya said, uncomfortable scratching the back of his head. "It makes no difference, and anyway Ichigo, you can't go, you have the late shift tonight." Ryou said, preparing himself for an onslaught of complaints. "But why?" she demanded, her browns knitting together. "I did it yesterday!" She said, her voice coming off more whiney than she would have liked to in front of Masaya. "Because I said so." Ryou's tone left no room for argument and he abruptly turned and walked away.

"It's alright Ichigo," Masaya assured, "we can go out another time." She sighed but returned his smile. He gave her a shy peck on the cheek before leaving. Turning red, Ichigo felt the place where he kissed and giggled loudly, drawing the attention of surrounding customers. Embarrassed, she coughed and went to the kitchen to pick up an order. Ryou had gone to his room to sulk when he saw Masaya kiss her. His heart felt like it had been twisted and stabbed. Swallowing, he'd managed to make it to his room without causing a scene. Once there, he punched one of his white walls so hard it left a dent. He regretted the stupid action as his fist turned red and stung like hell. "Why?" He demanded, grinding his teeth. "Why can't it be me?" He was filled with jealousy and anger and sadness. "Dammit, dammit, dammit!" He growled. He rarely cussed but when he did it usually didn't help him any.

Flopping down on to his bed he buried his face into a pillow, trying to flush the thoughts from his mind. All he could see what his lips on her cheek and he was inflamed with new agony. "It's not fair," he groans. In his anguish it's not unlikely that a few salty drop of water sunk into the pillow, but if they did, he certainly wouldn't admit it.

Well that's the end. It's rather sad, but I think it's pretty realistic in comparison with some of my other stories. I like pitting Ryou as the jealous type when it comes to Ichigo. I like it when out of character emotions are ripped from him because of his one sided affection. I may possibly continue it, but I have to get some ideas first xD For now, unless I get reviews telling me to do otherwise, it's a one shot.

Thanks for reading!


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